Family

This Sept. 5, 2012 photo released by Harvard University shows a fourth century fragment of papyrus that divinity professor Karen L. King says is the only existing ancient text that quotes Jesus explicitly referring to having a wife. King, an expert in the history of Christianity, says the text contains a dialogue in which Jesus refers to "my wife," whom he identified as Mary. King says the fragment of Coptic script is a copy of a gospel, probably written in Greek in the second century. (AP Photo/Harvard University, Karen L. King)

I don't buy it. And even if I bought it, it wouldn't change a thing. Anybody who believes a papyrus fragment of an ancient Coptic text that refers to Jesus' wife is going to change the Roman Catholic Church's position on the celibate priesthood probably thinks Galileo is a kind of Italian pepper.

The Catholic Church will never be accused of impetuosity. Beyond that, this intriguing piece of papyrus, presented by Harvard's Karen King to a group of Coptic experts in Rome, is very likely bogus, created by a cunning forger to advance the married priesthood agenda. Within days of King's announcement, academics, including Francis Watson, a Durham University professor, asserted it was a fake, citing its unorthodox grammar.

Particularly questionable is the provenance of the papyrus. News reports indicate King became aware of the fragment two years ago when she received an email from a collector who needed help translating the piece. King acknowledged the owner did not know where the fragment came from and has asked to remain anonymous.

Would a Picasso pass that test?

To her credit, King has insisted that nothing about the fragment proves Jesus was married. What it demonstrates, she insists, is the diversity of beliefs in the early Christian period over sexuality and marriage.

"What you have in this text is one tiny little fragment from the 4th century that implies something different from something about which we have thousands and thousands of pieces of evidence to the contrary," Fordham University professor George Demacopoulos told me. "It shouldn't change anything."

But it has and will continue to spark a vociferous debate about married clergy, an issue that grows more dire as the number of Catholics increases and the number of priests declines. Between 1975 and 2008, the world's Catholics increased by 64 percent, but the number of priests increased by only 1 percent, reports the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. Although the Vatican's insistence on priestly celibacy rests on its conviction that Jesus never married, that position has evolved over the centuries.

Until the 5th century, priests can and did marry. But as the church became legitimized, corruption, particularly among the episcopate, began to seep in. Buying one's way to a bishop's chair became scandalously common. So, in 451, the Council of Chalcedon insisted on the celibacy of bishops, although priests could continue to marry — as long as they did so before ordination.

Beginning in the 12th century, two parallel forces began to chip away at that. The first was an emerging spiritual consciousness, which had begun with St. Paul and was refined by St. Augustine, that celibacy was a purer form of ministry. Marriage, as Paul writes in Corinthians, may be entered into as a way to avoid "sexual immorality." But chastity — for men and women — is the purer, more spiritually disciplined option. "I wish that all were as I myself am," writes the unmarried Paul. "But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion."

The trouble with marriage, as the church began to discover, was that it produced children — and those children expected an inheritance. "Priests were leaving the property attached to their church to their own sons," Demacopoulos said.

"It was an enormous problem," said professor Janet Ruffing, of Yale Divinity School. "It wasn't just property and land, it was also church office. So if you were a priest's son, you became a priest. You had family dynasties of priests."

What the contemporary Church won't say today is that those same fiduciary issues remain a part of its obduracy with regard to the celibate priesthood. Nobody wants to pay health benefits for a priest with a family of seven.

In the 12th century, this economic reality, combined with an emerging ascetic belief in spiritually, resulted in the insistence on priestly celibacy.

So, says Ruffing, "This imposition of celibacy, which is taught as a gift given by the Holy Spirit, becomes a required practice with the assumption that if a candidate prays for the gift, it will be given. Well, there is way too much evidence that this is not the case."

Nevertheless, it is worth noting, however inconceivable it might seem in this sexually saturated world, that there remain religious men and women who don't see chastity as renunciation but, as it was intended, a charism.

"Charism is a gift, offered and received of the Holy Spirit," says Ruffing. "And the problem with the imposition of clerical celibacy is this non-respect for the gift of celibacy."

Given the need of Catholics for the Eucharist, and given the plummeting number of priests, can we rely on a robust supply of such spiritually evolved souls, graciously endowed with the gift of celibacy?

We do not need a married Jesus to institute a married priesthood. We didn't need it for 12 centuries and we don't need it now. We do not need a scrap of papyrus or a Coptic marriage license. What we need is a church that reliably feeds the spiritual needs of its people. As the Rev. Thomas Reese, of Georgetown University says, "Providing the Eucharist and other sacraments has to take precedence over whether we have a celibate priesthood or not."

"The Gospel of Jesus' Wife" may be a fake. But the need for more priests is achingly genuine. We need to recognize the celibate lifestyle for what it is — a gift — and not continue to force it down the throats of those to whom it hasn't been given.

Tracey O'Shaughnessy is a three-time winner of the Religion Communicators Council's Wilbur Award for religious writing in the secular press and two-time winner in the American Academy of Religion's annual journalism contest. Contact: Tosh@Rep-Am.com.

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JackApp wrote on Oct 1, 2012 6:58 PM:

" I went through 8 years of catholic school at St Boniface in New haven, Ct. I am not active in the Catholic Church, or any other Church . I wish it was true that Jesus had a wife, that movie The Da Vinci Code was just great, and if it was true that Jesus had a wife, as they say Mary Madeline , and they had off spring , I think its more of a positive thing for the Catholic Church. I believe Jesus was a prophet, very human, this immaculate conception thing and he was the son of God just does not work with me. He was great, started Christianity , changed the world, was killed as a rabble rouser by the Romans, God I am Italian, but if He had a wife and I guess "pro created" with that Prostitute Mary, hey good for Him and there may be some of His ancestors running around today. Please all you Christians do not put a jihad against me, my little dog shadow is so sweet and loves everyone "

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